We are Ken Jennings and John Roderick.

We are receiving this message.

We are Ken Jennings and John Roderick. We speak to you from our present, which we can only assume is your distant past, the turbulent time that was the early 21st century.

Fearing the great cataclysm that will surely befall our civilization, we began this monumental

reference of strange and obscure human knowledge.

These recordings represent our attempt to compile and preserve wonders and esoterica that would otherwise be lost.

So whether you're listening from an advanced civilization or have just reinvented the technology to decrypt our transmissions,

this is our legacy to you.

This is our time capsule.

This is the omnibus. Oh, You have accessed entry 110.

J.G.0512 certificate number 37232.

Deborah Sampson. So it's 4th of July season here in the United States in 2020.

Futurelings may well remember that the 4th of July is the anniversary of our nation's

liberation from the tyranny of British rule?

Kind of.

Sort of.

The original vote on the Declaration of Independence passed on July 2nd.

Many people didn't sign it until later in the summer.

Why did we pick the fourth?

Uh...

Was it the day we had a quorum?

Enough people had signed it, that it became effective.

...